


Moving On: A Second Chance At Happiness

by Aislingkate



Series: Moving On: After The War [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Divorce, Fleur bashing (ish), Fluff and Angst, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Mpreg, mentions of cheating
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2020-07-24 23:20:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20022673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aislingkate/pseuds/Aislingkate
Summary: The atmosphere in the Weasley household was tense as  everyone sat around the kitchen table for Sunday lunch.  Evidently no one seemed to notice the tension except for Harry, he was biding his time, waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop.Across from him Bill leaned forward and cleared his throat loudly to catch everyone’s attention,“I have something I need to tell you all.”He looked awkwardly around the room at his family and as he was about to continue with his announcement, Ron cut in. “Hang on a minute, where’s Fleur?”“Well that’s actually what I wanted to talk about,” Bill coughed slightly.“Is she pregnant?” Molly beamed widely at just the thought.“Err… no, Mum, she- Fleurs not pregnant,” Bill spluttered slightly.Harry caught Charlie’s eye across the table and they shared a grin at Bill’s expense. The oldest Weasley didn’t seem to notice.“Well where is she then?” Ginny asked with an eye-roll.“France,” Bill replied. “She’s moved back to France, without me, we’ve split up.”___Throughout his divorce battle, Bill learns quite a few things about himself, his family and his new boyfriend.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is pretty dialogue heavy. I don't even know why but the fact that it was written at 3am probably has something to do with it. 
> 
> I should be writing Times Revelations but I needed to start writing this to get the idea out of my head. This will probably be alot easier to write because I don't need to alter as many time lines.

_ June 17th 2000 _

The atmosphere in the Weasley household was tense as everyone sat around the kitchen table for Sunday lunch. Since he’d ended things with Ginny, Harry hadn’t felt very comfortable attending, but Molly had insisted he was family no matter what. Privately, Harry thought she hoped he and Ginny would reconcile.

The table was piled high with food, which was not unusual for a meal at the Weasley’s. The table was overcrowded as usual too. The Weasley family had extended beyond the original seven children over the two years since the war had ended, to their various spouses and partners. Teddy and Andromeda joined them this particular Sunday adding to the usual chaos. 

He was sandwiched between Ron on his right and George on his left, he figured it was better than the seat Hermione was in, hanging on the very edge of the table next to Ron who had piled his plate high with food. Everytime George moved his knife and fork he elbowed Harry in the ribs.

Evidently no one seemed to notice the tension except for Harry, he was biding his time, waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop. 

Across from him Bill leaned forward and cleared his throat loudly to catch everyone’s attention,“I have something I need to tell you all.” 

He looked awkwardly around the room at his family and as he was about to continue with his announcement, Ron cut in. “Hang on a minute, where’s Fleur?”

“Well that’s actually what I wanted to talk about,” Bill coughed slightly. 

“Is she pregnant?” Molly beamed widely at just the thought. 

“Err… no, Mum, she- Fleurs not pregnant,” Bill spluttered slightly. 

Harry caught Charlie’s eye across the table and they shared a grin at Bill’s expense. The oldest Weasley didn’t seem to notice. 

“Well where is she then?” Ginny asked with an eye-roll. 

“France,” Bill replied. “She’s moved back to France, without me, we’ve split up.”

Silence resonated across the room. Bill ran a hand through his hair as everyone seemed to stare at him in shock. Harry was now not the only one aware of the tension in the room. A long sigh escaped Mr. Weasley as he looked at his oldest son. 

“When did this happen?” Arthur asked after a moment of collecting his thoughts. 

“We split up six months ago,” Bill admitted. “We weren’t ready to tell anyone until now, I decided it was better to wait to tell everyone until she was gone.”

“Why?” Ron asked, he looked bewildered. “Why’d you split up.”

“Things weren’t working, we wanted different things,” Bill said, although that wasn’t quite true but Bill was far too proud to admit the truth. “We rushed into things because of the war, it was a mistake and if I could go back and change it I would, but I can’t.”

“But, I- I mean, it’s Fleur!” Ron spluttered. 

“Ronald!” Hermione was red in the face, she didn’t look angry just, just rather embarrassed by her boyfriend's words.

“Honestly Ron, have some tact,” Harry said elbowing him. 

Harry reckoned Ron was finding it difficult to see why anyone would want to split from Fleur. The youngest Weasley boy had harboured a childish crush on her ever since the Triwizard Tournament, despite his growing relationship with Hermione. 

“Look,” Bill said, and Harry could tell he was starting to get annoyed. “We made a mistake, I’m embarrassed enough as it is, can we all just let it go and finish our lunch?

There was a long silence where everyone seemed to be thinking about what to say. 

“I think I need a brandy,” Mrs. Weasley finally said, and with that she made her way into the cupboard and pulled out a bottle. Harry knew this was probably hitting her hard, things had started to get back to normal, or as normal as things could be for the Weasley family having lost Fred, and now Bill and Fleur has split up just months after Harry and Ginny had ended things. Molly was just starting to return to her normal self before everything had happened. He hoped that this didn’t set her progress back.

Everyone returned to the food on their plates. George moaned around a forkful of mashed potatoes and praised his mother's cooking, Ron scarfed down his food at an alarming rate while Percy and Mr. Weasley discussed the latest scandal in the Ministry. It was just another normal Weasley family Sunday lunch. 

Harry watched as Bill let out a sigh of relief and quirked an eyebrow at the older man. He gave Harry a nudge with his foot under the table and mouthed ‘ _ Thank you’  _ at him before he too returned to his dinner and engaged Charlie in a conversation about the new Dragon reserve in Wales. 

Harry settled into his own dinner, pushing any worried he had aside and grinning when he noticed George making funny faces at Teddy across the table behind Andromeda’s back.

* * *

_ July 25th 2000 _

It was about a month after that Harry, Charlie and Bill were sat in the sitting room at Shell Cottage. Cups of tea rested in front of them as Bill went through papers in his hands. They’d been sat there for half an hour reading each page of Fleur’s divorce papers.

“Can you believe she wants half of everything?” He asked as he read through the last page. “She’s lucky to be getting anything at all.”

Charlie scoffed as he popped the top of his bottle of beer, “I thought she wanted a quick separation, why is she dragging it out so much?”

“What do you even have?” Harry asked. “I mean no offense but there’s this house, sure, but  _ you _ don’t own it, what’s she looking to get?”

“She’s trying to claim I cheated on her,” Bill said waving the papers around, “And look,” he spat as he placed them down on the table in front of him. “ _ Incendio. _ ”

As he pointed his wand at the papers they went up in flames. As the flames died down the papers were still sat on the coffee table in perfect condition. Harry snorted.

“You’re clearly very predictable,” Harry commented as he reached for the papers. “Why don’t you just tell them she cheated on you?”

“Because it’s nobody's business, I don’t want everyone to know about it,” Bill muttered petulantly. 

Harry could understand Bill’s point of view, but he also knew that the wizard was liable to lose half of his wealth if he let Fleur walk all over him in the divorce proceedings. 

“Look, I’m no law-wizard, maybe we should get Percy to look at these or something,” Harry suggested as he read a line that he was pretty sure meant Bill would have to give Fleur half of his wages for the next ten years. 

“Percy’s hardly a law-wizard,” Charlie snorted as he read another line that said Bill would  _ definitely _ have to give Fleur half of the money residing in his Gringotts vault. “Even if he might like to think he is.”

“I just meant that he reads contracts all the time, he knows what all this legal jargon means, I definitely can assure that I have no idea what half of the first sentence says let alone the entire thing,” Harry argued. “I think you should hire and  _ actual _ law-wizard Bill, this is ridiculous.”

“It’s only ridiculous because she’s making it ridiculous!” He exclaimed. “We’ve been separated for the last six months since I found her in our bed with another man, she’s claiming I’ve been cheating on her during that time, what I did or didn’t do during the last six months shouldn’t matter.”

“Which is something you should be telling your  _ law-wizard _ , she clearly has one,” Harry said gesturing at the papers. “She might be smart but she didn’t write this alone.”

“I have to agree with Harry on this one mate,” Charlie said as he dropped his half of the papers back onto the coffee table and took a swig from his beer. “We’re way out of our depth.”

“I don’t  _ want _ to hire a law-wizard,” Bill replied. “I can do this myself.”

“No,” Harry said, completely bemused my Bill’s stubborn nature. “You can’t.”

“I’m sorry Harry, who’s divorce is this? Is it our divorce?” Bill glared. “Let me handle it my way.” 

“Your way sucks,” Harry said, throwing his pile of papers onto the table. “ You just don’t want to tell anyone because it says I’m the one you were having the affair with.”

“Exactly,” Bill said. “Spot on, I don’t want you being dragged into this mess.”

“But I know a really good law-wizard,” Harry protested. 

“Just drop it, alright?” Bill said tiredly, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “I don’t want you involved in any way.” 

“I already am,” Harry muttered. “But if that’s what you want.” 

“It is,” Bill said. 

“Fine,” Harry sighed as Bill threw his arm over his shoulder and pulled him close. He shared a look with Charlie over Bill’s shoulder, there was no way he was letting this go. Charlie snorted but didn’t say anything as he took another swig from his bottle.

* * *

  
  


_ July 26th 2000 _

Harry was lying in bed with his head resting against Bill’s chest. He was reading a book about dragon slavery that Charlie had given him. He was still trying to root out all of the dragons that were being wrongly imprisoned by Gringotts but it was a slow process as the Goblins didn’t want to change a system that had previously worked very well for them. 

After Harry had decided to take his NEWTs independently away from Hogawts, unable to go back due to the pain of watching Dumbledore fall from the astronomy tower, no matter if he knew that is was necessary, he was offered a job with Gringotts. Not many people were able to successfully break into Gringotts and get away. He hadn’t exactly been stealthy but the Goblins wanted to hire him to work on extra security measures for the bank. So no one would be able to do what he had done again. 

The book wasn’t the most stimulating material he had ever read, his mind had wandered to a conversation he’d had with Andromeda a few weeks prior. She had suggested he start spending more time with Teddy. That he take the toddler for the weekend and see how they got on. Harry knew that Andromeda was tired, she had already raised one child thirty years ago, she wasn’t prepared to raise Teddy. She never thought that she would have to. Having lost her husband, daughter and son in law, she told Harry she wanted him to take sole custody of Teddy in the next year or so as she wasn’t fit to look after him.

He was worried that he wouldn’t be enough for Teddy. Andromeda was his flesh and blood. She had experience with raising a child and she knew what she was doing. Everything was new to him and he didn’t think he would be capable of looking after Teddy in the long run. 

“You know,” Bill said, startling Harry out of his thoughts. “You’ve been staring at that page for the last ten minutes.”

“It’s just a really interesting page,” Harry defended. 

“Oh?,” Bill said with a grin as he read the first few lines. “Dragon dung, rather fascinating, Charlie will love that.”

“Ugh,” Harry groaned as he closed the book and placed in on the nightstand. 

Bill wrapped his arms around him more securely and pressed his lips to his neck. “What’s got you so tense.”

“Besides the obvious?” Harry muttered. “Andromeda, Fleur, when we should tell your family what’s going on.”

“Andromeda?” Bill asked. “Is this about her asking you to take Teddy at the weekends?”

“It’s more than that though, isn’t it!” Harry protested. “She wants me to start thinking long term, says she’s getting too old to raise him.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Bill rolled Harry over so they were facing each other. “If you’re worried about me, you know I love Teddy.”

“It’s not that,” Harry shook his head. “What if I mess him up? I haven’t exactly had stellar examples at guardians have I?”

Bill snorted. If he could he would jinx the Dursleys into next week, make them suffer for what they did to Harry as a child but Harry was very forgiving and even met up with his cousin once a month for coffee. “No,” he agreed. “Your relatives are shit, which means you know exactly what not to do.”

Harry sighed. “That’s not exactly as comforting as you think it is.”

“Teddy’s a good kid, and no matter what happens between you and I, you have an entire network of support,” Bill murmured. “We all love Teddy to bits, he’s an honorary Weasley. You think entirely way too much.”

“Thank you,” Harry whispered. It was quiet but sincere and Bill gave him a smile before he leaned in and pressed a kiss to his nose. “Eww gross.”

“Go to sleep, Harry,” Bill said fondly as he reached for his wand to douse the oil lamps. 

* * *

  
  


_ July 28th 2000 _

“Where are Mum and Dad?” Ginny asked as she entered the living room of the Burrow to find Harry, Ron and Hermione sprawled out playing a muggle board game. Harry had his shoes kicked off and was lying on his stomach with his legs in the air, Ron was laying across the settee with his head hanging off the side so he could reach the game, while Hermione was sat with her legs crossed and Crookshanks resting across her lap, a thoughtful look on her face. 

“The Diggory’s,” Ron replied distractedly. “Oi, that’s cheating.”

“No, look it’s says collect two hundred when you pass go,” Harry said, pointing at the board and proceeding to take his money. “Did you ever learn how to read?”

“Harry,” Hermione chided in a way that made her sound like Professor McGonagall, dislodging Crookshanks who slumped down in front of the fireplace. “If you can’t play nice the board is going away.”

Ron groaned when he picked up a card that said ‘go to jail’. Harry grinned at him and stuck out his tongue. 

“Right,” Ginny said, staring between the three of them in amusement. “Why exactly are they at the Diggory’s?” 

“Mum met Mrs. Diggory at one of those support groups in St. Mungo's last week,” Ron explained and Ginny nodded her head in understanding. “She invited her over for tea, Dad reckons they don’t get a lot of visitors.”

“It’s good for them,” Bill said as he ducked into the doorway with Teddy on his back gripping his long hair and making the older Weasley wince. “Gets them out of the house.”

Teddy giggled as Bill set him down on the floor and he toddled over to Harry and Hermione who were arguing over who owned a certain plot on the board. 

“I paid for it last go round,” Harry said as he absently patted Teddy on the top of the head. The boys hair turned from lilac to crimson alarmingly quick but Harry neither Harry nor Hermione noticed. 

“Well where’s your card then,” Hermione said smugly as she shuffled through her cards to find it. 

“Well where’s yours,” he countered. 

Ron, who had just zoned back into the conversation, looked at where Hermione’s silver bucket was on the board and grinned. “Pay up,” He said waving the card for the train station in front of her face. “I’m becoming a tycoon.”

Before any of them could say anything to oppose his statement, Teddy, who didn’t like being ignored by his godfather, grabbed the board and upended it, putting a stop to their game. 

“You little bugger,” Harry said affectionately as he picked Teddy up and tickled him. Teddy’s hair turned black to match Harry’s and he grinned back at him.

“Bugga, Bugga!” Teddy giggled as he rolled out of Harry’s arms and away from his tickling. 

“Harry,” Hermione warned as they watched a now distracted Teddy chase Crookshanks around the coffee table. 

“Come on Hermione, he’s going to forget that by the morning,” Harry rolled his eyes. 

She gave him a look that said he would be the one to blame when Andromeda came to collect Teddy and heard him chanting it. Harry shrugged and waved his wand to pack away the game. 

“What are you doing here anyway Gin,” Bill asked as he nudged Ron out of his way and took a seat on the settee. “Shouldn’t you be at training?”

“It was canceled last minute, captain’s injured,” she explained. “How are things.. Err.. going..?”

“You can ask how’s the divorce going, it’s not going to upset me,” Bill snorted. “Not great, to answer your question, she’s not letting up but we’ll sort it eventually.”

“What’s she dragging it out for?” Ginny asked, all the Weasley’s except for Charlie were confused about why Fleur was being difficult. “I thought it was mutual?”

“It is,” Bill said quickly. “There’s just a lot to sort out.”

Harry snorted at the understatement of the century. Bill gave him a sharp look in return. 

“Well,” Hermione began, quick to change the subject after noticing the tension in the room. “Has anyone met Percy’s new girl?”

“BUGGA!”

It turned out, much to Andromeda’s displeasure that ‘bugger’ was now Teddy’s favourite word. Harry knew he would be hearing about that one for a long time to come. But there was a lot of things Harry would be hearing about until he was old and grey so it didn’t worry him too much

* * *

_ July 31st 2000 _

Harry woke to open mouthed kisses being pressed against his neck. He groaned, keeping his eyes shut as Bill moved his mouth further up to his ear. 

“Happy Birthday Harry,” he whispered and Harry fluttered his eyelashes to see the red head looming over him with a huge grin on his face. Harry pouted and lifted his head off the bed chasing after Bill for a proper kiss. Bill leaned down and pulled him in for a long tender kiss before he pulled away again.

He reached over and propped a tray laden with breakfast across Harry’s lap. “This looks great!” Harry exclaimed as he stared down at his fullenglish breakfast. “I didn’t think you could cook.”

“When Molly Weasley raises you, you learn how to cook whether you like it or not,” Bill grinned. 

“Noted,” Harry replied. “Thank you, this is perfect, exactly how I wanted to spend today.”

Before Harry could take a bite out of his food, Bill leaned down and kissed him again. The kiss got progressively more demanding and somewhere in the back of Harry’s mind he remembered to steady the tray lying in between them. 

“Fuck it,” Bill muttered as he plucked the tray from Harry’s grasp. “It’s got a warming charm on it, dessert first, breakfast later.” 

Harry laughed at his lovers antics before it turned into a long drawn out moan.

Happy Birthday indeed.

* * *

_ August 3rd 2000 _ . 

He was leading the way for Bill as they entered one of the fancier restaurants on Diagon Alley. It was frequented mostly by Gringotts workers, like Bill and Harry so they didn’t stand out. 

They were lead to their table and Bill rose an eyebrow as he saw that two of the seats had already been filled. 

“Late as always Potter,” Draco Malfoy stood up from his seat and held his hand out. 

“Some of us can’t just up and leave our jobs Malfoy,” Harry responded as he shook the other man's hand. 

“Ah yes, Gringotts would perish without their head of security, I wonder how they survived all these years without you,” Malfoy quipped. “I’ve already ordered the wine, it’s elven.”

Harry rolled his eyes as he sat down on the seat Bill had pulled out for him, trust Draco to choose the most expensive wine when he knew Harry was paying. “Hey Charlie,” Harry added when he met the dragon tamer’s eyes. “Long time no see.”

“Not that I don’t love to see you both,” Bill said. “But why are you here, I was under the impression Harry was taking me out?”

“I’m offended Weasley,” Draco pouted, hand over his heart, Charlie grinned. “I’m your new law-wizard.”

“No,” Bill deadpanned, turning to Harry a look of betrayal on his face. 

“ _ Yes _ ,” Harry glared. “We can trust him.”

“I can’t afford him,” Bill whispered, and Harry rolled his eyes. 

“I’m paying, suck it up,” Harry said. “I’m not letting you roll over and bare your throat for her, she doesn’t deserve it.”

“ _ Harry _ ,” Bill said, this time more annoyed. “I can’t let you-”

“It’s too late,” Draco cut across. “Look I’m not here for this bullshit, Harry’s already paid me in full so you may as well get use of my services considering I won’t be giving the money back.”

Bill turned to look at Harry to see if it was true and the younger wizard just shrugged. Bill let out a sigh of frustration. “Right then, what do you know so far.”

  
  


* * *

_ August 9th 2000 _

Harry and Teddy were playing out in the garden with Teddy’s toy broom when Bill came back from his preliminary meeting with Fleur and her lawyer. 

“How'd it go?” Harry asked, keeping his hand on Teddy’s back as the toddler tried to balance himself. 

“Awful, I’m actually glad I had Malfoy,” Bill said as he sat down in one of the garden chairs watching them. “Her lawyer kept talking in french, Draco thinks they didn’t know he could speak it, apparently they want to call you in as a witness.”

“Hardly,” Harry said, turning to face Bill. “What’s the point?”

“No idea, Draco didn’t want to let on that he knew what they were saying, he only told me after they’d left,” Bill sighed. “I told you I didn’t want you involved in this mess.”

“Yeah, well,” Harry shrugged. “I always manage to get myself in trouble no matter what I do.” 

They were silent as they watched Teddy concentrate to stay straight on the broom. “Don’ let go,” Teddy begged as Harry followed him around, hand still holding him upright. Teddy had a look of complete concentration as he tried to stay in the air. When he straightened his posture and leaned more of his weight onto the broom Harry let go and they watched as he flew around in a circle. 

“Unca’ Harry!” Teddy exclaimed when he came face to face with Harry and realised he had let go of him. He sniffled slightly and Harry reached out to pull him off the broom and into a hug. 

“You did so good Ted!” Harry soothed. “You didn’t need me to hold onto you anymore.”

“Not good enough my arse,” Bill sad later when they were lying in bed. “You’re brilliant.”

“And your a kissass,” Harry replied with a grin. “I promise I’ll be a good witness.”

* * *

_ August 15th 2000 _

“So you’re telling me the Weaslette doesn’t know you and Bill are together?” Draco asked, flabbergasted as he leaned into Harry's personal space as if trying to examine him.. “But you live together!”

“No one knows, except you and Charlie, so be quiet,” Harry said nudging Draco’s leg to get the other man to move away from him. “I thought it would be weird telling Ginny that I was seeing her brother.”

“But you  _ live _ together,” Draco repeated gesturing almost wildly with his wine glass. 

“They think I’m just staying with Bill while Grimmauld Place is being done up,” Harry shrugged, it wasn’t a big deal. Why did Draco have to make everything into a big deal?. “It’s pretty easy to explain, we both work for Gringotts so it makes sense.”

“They’re blind,” Draco sighed, dramatically falling back against the settee . “I’m marrying into a family of emotionally inept people.”

“Oi,” Charlie called from across the room, where he was losing rather badly in a game of wizarding chess against Bill. “I’m very emotionally intelligent.”

“I’m sure,” Harry snorted, quickly holding up a hand. “And before you say anything, I don’t need any examples.”

“Harry!” Mrs. Weasley’s voice carried from kitchen into the living room, which was rather impressive considering the size of Malfoy Manor. 

“What have you done now?” Bill asked with a grin as Harry groaned. 

“I think she’s just heard Teddy’s new favourite word,” Ron smirked from the doorway. “Hermione snitched, want to go play a game of Quidditch, we still have a while yet before the guests start to arrive?”

“Yeah, alright,” Harry said and the others made to follow them, all except Draco. 

“If you’re going to show up to my engagement party sweaty from playing Quidditch, you might as well not show up at all,” he warned. “I’m going to go help our mothers with the catering.”

“Don’t worry,” Bill said as he patted Charlie on the back. “We’ll shower him in hygiene charms before we send him back to you Draco.”

Draco stuck up his nose at them as they made their way out into the garden. Malfoy Manor had entire Quidditch pitch! How could they not take advantage of that.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is dialogue heavy. I always try to stay away from too much dialogue but it kinda went in a different direction then I had planned. Oops. I'm sorry for the wait in between updates but it you know me from my other story you'll know that I usually take my time between chapters. That being said, I always come back to this. My first round of tests have finished so I might have some time between now and christmas to update but I don't want to give anyone hope. I have more tests straight after christmas that I need to prepare for.

_ August 20th 2000  _

Harry was leaning over the toilet bowl in the bathroom throwing up. He could sense Bill moving into the bathroom and a moment later a wet cloth was being held to his forehead. He pressed back against it and let Bill hold him. 

He felt like his insides were being forcibly removed via his throat and he was not enjoying it.

It was a few moments later when the sickness abated and the nausea stopped. He took a moment to catch his breath and leaned back against Bill’s stronger frame. Bill rubbed his back, not saying a word. 

“That was awful,” Harry muttered as he rubbed at his eyes. Bill handed him his glasses and he slipped them onto his face, making him feel slightly better as things came back into focus. 

“What _was_ that?” Bill asked worriedly, carefully wrapping his arms around Harry to help him get up.

“Nerves, I think,” Harry admitted. “With the whole witness thing being tomorrow, I don’t want anyone to find out about us from the Prophet.”

“I doubt the Prophet will be reporting my divorce trial,” Bill snorted. 

“I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t been leaked yet,” Harry said. “I mean with Fleur and everything.”

“She’s still her, Harry,” Bill pointed out. “Despite everything, she’s not malicious, she just- I don’t know.”

“Hey,” Harry murmured running his hands through Bill’s hair. “For whatever reason, she chose to hurt you Bill, you can’t keep defending her.. I think it’s time you tell everyone what really happened.”  
  


Bill shook his head from where it was buried in his hands. “I can’t.”

“No one will think differently of you,” Harry assured. “You’re not the one at fault here, it would make tomorrow a lot easier.”

“Soon,” he promised. “Just.. not yet, okay?”

“Alright,” Harry agreed. “C’mon Andromeda will be over with Teddy in a while.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


_ August 21st 2000  _

“State your full name and age for the record,” the ministry official spoke as he sat before them all. 

“Harry James Potter, age twenty,” Harry responded easily, Draco had trained him to be able to act appropriately in front of the officials.

“Are you currently residing in ‘Shell Cottage’ in Cornwall, with William Weasley?” Fleur’s law-wizard asked. He was originally from the Uk but had moved to France after Voldemort had returned to protect his family from his father who had been a Death Eater. Harry only knew him by his last name which was Travers. 

“Yes,” Harry replied. 

“Can you explain to the court the nature of you relationship with Mr. Weasley,” Travers continued. Harry looked around at the ‘court’. It consisted of two Ministry Officials from the Department of Family Affairs, the two law-wizards, Harry, Bill, Fleur and another wizard by the name of Luc Sinclair. He had gone to Beauxbatons with Fleur. It had taken Draco only days to track him down after Bill had explained who the man he had found in his bed with his wife was. 

Harry could see that Luc was looking rather pale. He wasn’t feeling too confident himself, however Draco had instilled in him that he had to hold himself like he knew everything would be ok. 

“Well,” Harry began, lips twitching. “He’s my best mates brother, I met him when I was fourteen. I went out with his sister for a bit but we broke up and I moved in with him while my house is being done up.”

“Ms. Delacour claims that the nature of your relationship is illicit, would you agree,” Travers asked, eyes narrowed. 

“I don’t think it’s illegal for two blokes to live together, especially two _single_ blokes, do you Mr. Travers?” Harry asked, eyebrow raised. “However I will concede that Bill and I have been seeing each other for the last five months, which I’m sure you’d like to note was two months after he separated from his wife.”

“You admit you are having relations with Mr. Weasley while he is married?” Travers asked, it was almost an ‘ah-hah, I’ve got you moment’ except that he didn’t really have Harry at all. 

“Of course, but as I said, they had been separated for two months before Bill and I had even so much as held hands,” Harry said. “I cannot say the same however for Fleur and Mr. Sinclair.”

“Please do not address the other witness,” the ministry official cut in. “Mr. Travers do you have anything more you would like to add?”

“No,” Travers said, eyes still on Harry. “That is all for now.”

“Mr. Potter, how long have you known about Mr. Weasley’s separation from his wife,” Draco asked, leaning back against his desk. 

“Since the beginning, I was with his brother Charlie and you when Bill flooed over after finding Fleur cheating on him,” Harry replied. 

“Can you confirm this Mr. Malfoy?” The official asked. 

“It’s true,” Draco replied. “So you knew about their separation months before anything happened between you and Mr. Weasley, correct?”

“Yes,” Harry agreed.

“And how long have you been living with Mr. Weasley?” Draco asked. 

“Oh, about three months, my house is being done up and Bill offered to let me stay with him,” Harry explained. 

“Very well,” Draco said. “What do you know of Ms. Delacour’s affair with Mr. Sinclair?”

“Not much,” Harry replied. “It came as a bit of a shock to me, I didn’t expect her to cheat on Bill, but I guess I didn’t know her as well as I thought I did.”

“May I ask, Mr. Potter, if you are unable to provide any further information about Ms. Delcaour’s affair and Ms. Delacour’s team is unable to prove you and Mr. Weasley were seeing each other before their separation, why are you here?” Draco drawled. 

“I don’t know,” Harry replied. “It was Ms. Delacour’s team that asked me to testify.”

“That is all,” Draco told the officials, a smirk in place as he returned to his seat. 

After that Luc Sinclair was called up to the stand to give his statement and he admitted to be seeing Fleur behind Bill’s back. It was clear that Travers had been unable to brief him. The ministry officials agreed that the papers needed to be re-drawn by a reliable third party who could remain unbiased towards their dispute and the proceedings were adjourned for another month. 

Harry groaned as they left the Ministry. “I can’t believe we still have to wait another month, why does it take so long to divorce someone?”

Bill snorted. “Having second thoughts Draco?”

Draco rolled his eyes at him from where he was looking over his notes. “Hardly, Charlie isn’t going to divorce me so I’m not worried.”

“You have to get married first,” Harry pointed out. “Have you decided on a date?”

“No,” Draco groaned. “He wants a Spring wedding, I’d prefer a Yule wedding and both of our Mothers want a Summer wedding because it will be easier to organise.”

“Well you could surprise everyone and get married during Autumn,” Harry grinned, at the look of disgust on Draco’s face. 

“No,” he replied. “Autumn is off the cards, I hate leaves being everywhere.”

“What have leaves ever done to you,” Bill asked with a grin and Draco rolled his eyes. 

“Autumn is the inferior season,” Draco sniffed. 

“Ponce,” Harry grinned. 

“You’re one to talk Potter.”

* * *

  
  


_August 24th 2000_

Once again Harry had woken up and needed to run straight to the toilet to get sick. Bill had woken up to find Harry with his head hanging over the toilet bowl, shaking slightly. When he was finished he made Harry promise to talk to Andromeda about it. Harry had promised but waved away his concerns. Everything was fine. 

They were at the Burrow celebrating Percy’s birthday. Despite everything that had happened during the war Harry had a lot of respect for Percy. Percy had gone against his family in a misguided way but he had done it because he believed in the Ministry and Harry couldn’t fault him for that even if he was a prat at times. Out of all of them Percy and George had taken Fred’s death the hardest. Percy had blamed himself for distracting his brother during battle but no one else did.

The table was once again laden down with food. Birthday celebrations were no small thing with the Weasley family. They usually took it in turns to cook Sunday lunch, knowing Molly didn’t have it in her to do as much as she used to. She still knitted them all Weasley Christmas jumpers but they all felt they could do more to help her and Arthur out. However for today and for most birthdays Molly had taken it upon herself to throw them all out of the kitchen and cook the dinner herself. 

As everyone started to arrive George and Ron were setting the two long tables in the garden. It was still warm out and they were taking the chance to enjoy the last of the Summer before the Autumn chill settled over them. 

Harry grinned as he came out into the garden and found George and Ron racing to see who could complete their table first. Neither of them were great at household charms but Ron’s charms were far better than George’s who managed to accidentally rip his tablecloth in half before repairing it. Ron was done with minutes to spare as George’s cutlery danced around the table instead of staying in one place. 

“Better luck next time, mate,” Harry said as he patted George on the shoulder consolingly. “We all know Ron’s the housewife between himself and Hermione anyway, he was bound to be better than you.”

“I reckon he’ll be knitting jumpers in no time,” Geroge agreed. Ron rolled his eyes at them and muttered something about George being a sore loser as he righted the mess that was his brothers table. 

“Do you think Perce is gonna bring Audrey?” Harry asked as they made their way back inside. 

“Dunno if Mum could take it if he did,” Ron snorted. “She’s been all over Draco lately about the wedding and talking about grandchildren, Draco went a bit green when he heard her.”

“Charlie told her not to be expecting grandchildren from them anytime soon,” George said. “They still haven’t agreed who’s going to carry them.”

“I still can’t believe wizards can have babies,” Harry shook his head. “I thought Ron was having me on when he told me until I read about it myself.”

“I still can’t believe muggle men can’t,” George said. “It’s normal for us.”

“So I assume the betting pool is which one of them is going to carrying the baby?” Harry asked. 

“Of course,” George grinned and then motioned towards where Draco was coming towards them. “Say nothing.”

“Potter, weasel, other weasel,” Draco said as he neared them. 

“Good to see you too, Malfoy,” Ron muttered. “You’re looking as pasty as ever.”

“I’m offended,” Draco gasped. “Pasty, is that all you’ve got?”

Harry rolled his eyes but grinned at Draco. He knew Draco was all bark and no bite. They had put their differences aside immediately after the war. Harry had tea with Narcissa once a month after the woman had saved his life and he had attended all of their trials. He was still wary of Lucius but the older Malfoy seemed to have a new lease on life. He hadn’t kicked up a fuss when Draco had decided to start seeing Charlie and he had put his childish feud with the Weasley’s aside. He and Arthur got along well enough now and Lucius thought Charlie was a ‘nice enough you man’ which was practically singing his praises coming from him. 

Ron and Draco’s bickering was interrupted by Molly’s screech of delight from the kitchen. He could hear everyone bustling around inside as Molly greeted whoever had arrived. 

As they entered the kitchen they were greeted by the sight of Percy looking extremely flustered by the attention he and Audrey were getting from everyone in the room. He was being wished a ‘happy birthday’ from every corner of the room, even the Malfoys had offered him good wishes. Draco took off and joined Charlie who looked like he’d rather be anywhere then in between Narcissa and Lucius’ discussion about flowers for the wedding.

Audrey’s ear was being talked off by Mrs. Weasley who wanted to know everything about her. Harry grinned as he met Bill’s graze from across the room. 

The oldest Weasley was sat next to Andromeda and Teddy who was sporting a full head of Weasley red hair.

“Looks like Mum’s claimed Audrey for the evening,” Ginny said as she joined them. “I doubt any of us will be allowed to say two words to her, it’s like Draco all over again.”

“Well, Mum was terrified Harry and Ron would scare Draco off, wasn’t she?” George said. 

“Oi,” Harry said indignantly. “If she was worried about anyone scaring him off it was _you_ and Ron.”

George batted his eyelashes and gave Harry his best, ‘who, me?’ look. “That look might work on Angelina but it definitely doesn’t work on me,” Harry snorted. 

“Yeah, it doesn’t quite work on Angie either,” George said, smiling grimly. “C’mon we’d better go join the troops in wishing Percy a good ‘ol Happy Birthday, I’m thinking of charming his hair pink.”

Harry and Ron snorted, at this point, George could charm all of Percy’s hair off and he’d still find the humour in it somehow. He’d probably tell George he liked it better that way. Percy had after all made it his mission to endorse every prank George did for the rest of his life. It had been the only reason George had gotten out of bed following Fred’s death. 

Ginny slipped over to join Charlie and Draco across the room, while Harry made his way over to where Bill and Andromeda where sat and the other two followed after him. He grinned at Teddy and ruffled his orange hair. It seemed Teddy had decided to be a Weasley this evening. 

Graciously he took the glass of wine Bill held out for him with a small grin. He needed alcohol to get through the rest of the evening.

“Harry,” Andromeda smiled as he took the seat on her other side. “Bill here has been telling me that you’ve not been feeling well these last few weeks.”

Harry glared at a Bill, despite the fact that he could feel his cheeks heating up. George and Ron both looked at him worriedly, as if he was on death's door and Harry rolled his eyes. 

“I’m fine,” Harry said. “It’s just stress.”

He gave Andromeda a pointed look and she clucked her tongue at him. Obviously she wasn’t going to drop it. 

“Be that as it may, Harry, throwing up from stress is not good,” She looked at him worriedly. “You could have a stomach ulcer, how’s your appetite?”

Bill snorted. He’d watched Harry eat an entire muggle pizza the night before after they’d returned from work. It had been extra large. “His appetite is just fine,” Bill said and Harry glared at him again. “He’s actually been eating more than usual really.”

Andromeda hummed slightly at that. “And how often are you get sick dear?” 

“It’s only really been in the mornings when I wake up but sometimes it hits around lunch time,” Harry admitted. Bill rose an eyebrow at him, he hadn’t known that. 

“Blimey mate,” Ron said slapping him on the back. “Sounds like you’re pregnant.”

Several things happened at once. Harry’s glass shattered on the floor as he dropped it and Bill choked on and then spat out the wine he had been drinking. Andromeda’s eyes widened a bit and she covered her mouth in surprise at their reactions. The room became weirdly quiet all at once and Ron stared at Harry. He was wide eyed and shocked by the reaction his joke had caused. 

Everyone was watching them as Bill coughed and managed to set his glass down. Harry was still unable to respond. 

Could Ron be right? Had they been using contraceptive charms? He was sure that they had but maybe they had forgotten at some point. And, crap, he’d been drinking wine all evening. 

“Harry,” Ron said lowly, except they had garnered the attention of everyone in the room at that point. “Could you be?”

Everyone was watching them curiously. Molly and Arthur had pulled away from their conversation with Audrey to see what was going on. 

“Be what?” Hermione asked after a moment of silence. “Harry are you alright?”

“I-I-,” _Shit_. He was most definitely not alright.

“Potter, have you lost your ability to speak as well as the ability to hold things,” Draco asked, except there was concern behind the sneer and his voice didn’t hold any of the malevolence it once had not too many years ago.. 

“Harry?” Everyone was talking to him at once and he couldn’t think properly. The possibilities running through his head were endless. What if he was pregnant. He was only twenty years old for Merlin’s sake. He already had Teddy to think of. Sure he had a steady job, but he and Bill hadn’t even told his family they were together. They hadn’t even been together a year.

“Unca Harry!” Teddy scowled at him and Harry stared at the toddler that had just hit him across the face with his stuffed wolf toy. His hair had turned from it’s bright orange to crimson red, the colour he used to express his annoyance.

“Umm..,” Harry coughed and gave Teddy a reassuring smile. “Sorry Ted, I was just thinking.”

His gaze met Bills over the top of Andromeda’s head. What was he supposed to say? ‘Hi guys, I know it’s Percy’s birthday and all but I’m pretty sure I might be pregnant and Bill’s the daddy, by the way, Bill and I are together and have been for months. But Happy Birthday Perce, here’s to another good year!’ 

Bill seemed to notice his apprehension. He was obviously trying to think back on whether or not they’d used contraception charms the entire time but it was impossible to remember. A moment of certainty flashed in the eldest Weasley’s eyes and he nodded his head at Harry. 

He stood up carefully and looked around the room. The tension that had been there the day Bill had announced his divorce had returned, except this time it felt thicker. 

Bill cleared his throat,” I wasn’t planning on, err.. Stepping on Percy’s day and telling you this, any time soon, really, but er.. .”

He coughed awkwardly and Harry let out a sigh. This was already not going well. From across the room he met Draco’s eyes. A look of understanding crossed his features as he realised what Bill was doing. 

“You see, the thing is, well,” Bill stuttered and Harry wanted to smack his head against the wall. “HarryAndIAreSeeingEachother.” 

There was a pause, Harry had been expecting it but the others needed a moment to process what they’d heard. He buried his head in his hands and waited. 

“Can you repeat that mate,” George said after a moment. “Because it sounded a lot like you said, you and Harry were seeing each other.”

“That’s because that’s what I said,” Bill replied and then he sat down in his seat and waited. 

“But-,” Ron started. “Harry’s my best mate, he’s like my brother!”

Harry raised an eyebrow at him. He hadn’t used that excuse when he was seeing Ginny. 

“Is this why you’ve decided to split with Fleur?” Molly asked carefully. 

Finally Harry spoke. “If you’re telling them about us, you might as well tell them the rest.” He gave Bill a small encouraging smile despite not feeling very encouraging. “They’ll find out eventually.”

“The reason Fleur and I split has nothing to do with Harry,” Bill said. “Remember in January when Gringotts sent me to Egypt for a week?” At his mother’s nod Bill carried on. “Well I came back a day early and when I arrived home, she was in our bed, _my_ bed with another man… Some bloke she went to school with.”

“Merlin’s pants,” Arthur said. “Why would you keep this from us?”  
  


Bill rubbed a hand across his face and shrugged. “I didn’t want to worry any of you, but that’s why the divorce is taking so long.. Draco has it handled though.”

“So Draco knew before us?” Ginny asked, her face was scrunched up in annoyance. 

“Draco, Harry and Charlie all knew,” Bill admitted, wincing slightly when he saw the look on his Mother and Father’s faces.

“And, how long have you and Harry been seeing each other?” Molly asked, casting a glance between Harry and Ginny.

“Not that long,” Harry assured her. “I was at Draco and Charlie’s the night Bill caught Fleur and he flooed over to stay the night, it was months after Ginny and I broke up,” He added in an attempt to appease her. “And then we only really started seeing each other two months after that...”

“He’s my brother!” Ginny burst out. 

“It wasn’t planned,” Harry replied. “This is the exact reason we wanted to wait to tell everyone,” he muttered. “I didn’t plan on falling in love with your brother.”

“In love?” she asked eyes wide. 

‘Wow,’ Harry thought to himself. ‘You really do know how to put your foot in it don’t you Potter.’ He wondered vaguely why his inner voice sounded so much like Draco. 

“Yeah, I reckon,” Harry said quietly, gaze locked with Bill. “In love.”

“Why _did_ you decide to tell us today anyway?” Hermione asked with a raised brow. “What were you and Ron talking about earlier.”

“Umm,” Harry started but Ron cut him off. 

“I was shocked,” Ron said awkwardly. “He was telling me that he might be going to a Chudley Cannons game next weekend, with Neville and Dean.”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed. “And Ron has Auror training so he obviously can’t come with u, I didn’t want him to read it in the Prophet.”

George nodded his head in agreement. “I was even saying I might get Lee to look after the shop and Angie and I would go with them.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Ginny said confused. 

“Sure it does,” Charlie nodded his head. “Draco and I were thinking of going but Draco hates the cannons so I’ll have to miss out too.”

“I-,” Molly said a look of almost bewilderment on her face. “I give up.”

“How did that lead to Bill revealing you were together?” Hermione asked, eyes narrowed and Harry knew he was going to have to tell her what had really happened at some point. 

“Just felt like the right time, I suppose,” Bill shrugged. 

“At Percy’s birthday party?” Ginny asked. “Where we’re all meeting his new girlfriend for the first time.”

“Well,” Percy said eyes scanning the room. “I suppose Audrey knows what she’s in for now, it makes sense.” 

Harry was infinitely thankful that all of the Weasley boys seemed to be going along with them. Charlie and George had a twinkle in their eyes and that made Harry nervous. He knew if they didn’t wrap it up soon that one of them would find a way to make the story even more fanatical. 

“Oh,” Harry said looking at his watch. “Is it that time already? I’d better be getting Andromeda and Teddy home.”

He gave Andromeda a hopeless look and the witch nodded her head solemnly. “Yes, I believe Kingsley is stopping by later for tea and chat with myself and Harry about Teddy’s custody so I had better get home.”

Harry sighed in relief. Bill stood to leave with them and as he summoned their coats no one thought to protest. Harry gave Ron and George a look that he hope portrayed his gratitude and then caught Draco’s eyes and gave him a significant look.

“Well, if you’re meeting the minister later, I have a few files I need to show him regarding a case I’m working on,” Draco said. “Charlie and I will join you.”

Harry was surprised they managed to get away as quickly as they did. Hermione and Ginny were still protesting their story but everyone was sticking to it. He just hoped that Ron would hold up well under interrogation from Hermione. 

* * *

Harry was sat in Andromeda's sitting room drinking a cup of tea as he explained his symptoms to her properly. 

"So to recap, nausea, sickness in the mornings and increased appetite when there's no nausea present," She listed. "It's difficult to determine male pregnancy, men can go a lot longer than women without noticing they're pregnant or any symptoms," she explained.

"I don't really know how long ago it could have happened, if it did at all," Harry said. 

"We're usually careful," Bill protested. "But we _might_ have forgotten once or twice."

"Honestly," Draco muttered, shaking his head. "If you're not pregnant you might want to start taking potions."

Harry scrunched up his nose, those potions were vile. 

"The easiest thing would be for me to a confirmation charm, if you consent of course Harry," Andromeda said.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Alright."

"It's not going to hurt," she assured him, although he wasn't worried about that. "I'm going to cast the spell on your abdomen and if you are pregnant then it will glow blue and if you're not pregnant it will glow green, do you understand?"

Harry nodded his head. "Yup, blue for yes, green for no."

"Alright Harry, why don't you lie down on the settee and I'll do the spell," she stood up from her armchair and gave him a reassuring smile. 

Draco and Charlie stood to one side watching. He had put Teddy down on his play mat when they arrived but he was watching them curiously. Bill helped him lie down and then took his hand. 

"Alright, _graviditatis revelare_ ," A white light shone from the tip of her wand onto to Harry's stomach. He watched as the light flickered between green and blue until it settled on blue. He was pregnant. It hit him suddenly what it meant. He felt Bill's hand go slack in his and then suddenly a thud hitting the ground.

Bill had fainted. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, poor Percy can't even have the attention on his own birthday!
> 
> I have a lot of ideas for this series like alot. I'm basing a short 10,000 -ish work on each pairing (so: Harry/Bill, Draco/Charlie, Hermione/Ron, Molly/Arthur, Percy/Audrey, George/Angelica and Ginny/it's a secret) 
> 
> I have the basics written up on each addition to the series and I'm actually really looking forward to it. Especially the Molly/Arthur one. 
> 
> Of course at the pace of my updating it'll probably take me about 10 years to get it all done. 
> 
> Anyway hope you enjoyed. Send me a comment, I'm still trying to reply to some from the last time so sorry if I haven't replied! I probably have read it, I'm just really busy at the moment!
> 
> Until next time.

**Author's Note:**

> I think I'm going to do a Draco/Charlie companion piece but feel like these ships are already pretty niche.


End file.
